poppy. 73 



that they seldom live to a good old age : 

 though they are rarely carried off by drop- 

 sies, or such other diseases as are the usual 

 consequences of hard drinking amongst us ; 

 but, having lost their memory, and most of 

 their intellectual faculties, they decline, in all 

 appearance, in the same way as those who 

 sink under the weight of years. 



Daily experience assures us, that those 

 who habituate themselves to opium, find it 

 as necessary as spiritous liquors to tipplers, 

 and they have often been found able to take 

 from fifty to sixty grains. In the Phil. Trans. 

 we have an instance of a Mr. Lovelock, who, 

 in a fever, in the space of three days, took 

 one hundred and two grains. Garcias men- 

 tions a woman who took ten drams every 

 day, and though she appeared stupid and 

 sleepy, yet she disputed very readily and 

 learnedly on any subject. 



Dr. Richard Mead, in his " Mechanical Ac- 

 count of Poisons," 1702, says, " Those who 

 take a moderate dose of opium, especially if 

 not long accustomed to it, are so transported 

 with the pleasing sense it induces, that they 

 are, as they often express themselves, in 

 heaven ; and, though they do not always 

 sleep, yet they enjoy so perfect an indolence 



